


What You Think You Know

by Emerald Embers (emeraldembers)



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-10
Updated: 2010-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:40:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldembers/pseuds/Emerald%20Embers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an awkward situation, Gale finds Lupa preferring to offer assistance over taking advantage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What You Think You Know

There was nothing subtle about Lupa's demon form, reflecting the man's honest approach to battle, but even so Gale had failed to hide from it successfully. Now that he had been cornered in one of the Waterways' recesses, Gale almost felt foolish for having run down a route he was unfamiliar with; almost, because there had been no other choice.

He knew he could not fight Lupa – he had yet to master any decent fire protection even if his ice damage was adequate. Certainly not alone, without Argilla's healing or Serph's support. He could not even be certain all Vayu's strength would be present after transforming given he'd lost most of his armour - foolish to have removed it earlier, regardless of the area being clear when he had.

Gale tapped his fingers against his thigh, wondering if he ought to transform now or wait and be certain of Lupa's mental state. Briefly he pondered what would happen if he did die, concluding quickly Serph ought to be capable of getting the others to Nirvana without a strategist from this point provided Varin could be bested.

Too hot breath that near burnt his skin came from Cerebus' mouths, but as Gale raised his leg in preparation to change the demon stepped back a little and seemed to bow, making a quiet whining sound before lying down and rolling to expose its belly.

Gale felt perplexed. He had thought most Asuras immune to charm effects – and even when those were applied the sufferer bowed only to those who had caused the effect. Uncertain of what else he could do, Gale approached Cerebus slowly, moving around to the side so he could stroke its flank rather than risk being scorched by the mouths.

After a moment's grooming Cerebus appeared to revert of its own accord, and Gale withdrew his hand on finding Lupa looking no less confused than he had been. There was something strangely pleasing about the way Lupa's hair stood out against the grey-blue surfaces of the waterway, and Gale took a few steps backward when the Wolves' leader got to his feet, somehow seeming a little shorter than usual.

Ah. As confusion disappeared, there was a look of discomfort Gale knew all too well. No point in transforming solely to cast Achedi, so Gale procured a dis-ache, watching Lupa's stature return to normal after his grateful acceptance of the gift.

Gale raised a finger to his own forehead, headache forming as he suddenly recalled the concept of gifts and related ideas, but Lupa waited patiently for Gale to prompt further conversation. "You were not hunting because you could not. I have given you the assistance you needed. Why do you not leave?"

With the status effect apparently gone, Lupa's aura of determined calm had returned. It felt strangely soothing. "The Solids were retreating and I have no desire to chase them. Where is your armour?"

Ah. "I had thought myself alone when you made an entrance." No point in explaining further, and though there was no explicit need to withhold the information, Gale felt as though it ought to be kept to himself.

He had been dealing with the particular issue privately for a while, feeling no desire to share it with other members of the Embryon though they had been distinctly less insular. A particularly memorable occasion had involved finding Heat naked from the waist down hammering on Serph's door, and being forced to hamstring the red-head to escape when he'd decided Gale would make a suitable substitute. Gale noticed Heat had been a little less friendly and a little more respectful after that incident. Dealing with the issue alone rarely took more than a few minutes so he'd felt reasonably secure in finding himself somewhere that had initially been private and undressing.

Instead, Lupa had found him and now he was facing the Wolves' leader with most of his armour discarded and the uncomfortable knowledge that he was still aching. "I would like to retrieve my armour."

"Yes." It was the least committal 'yes' Gale had ever heard, and he again pondered letting Vayu take control when Lupa closed the space between them a little more. "Do I frighten you?"

"No." It was the truth – fear was a useless emotion for a strategist, and he had seen the way Lupa killed. Even so, he flinched when Lupa's hand came up but did not back away, letting it settle on his cheek. Something flared inside him, his eyes burning for a brief second with something that he knew from the look Lupa gave him must have been colour.

"I want to do things to you that I can't even name."

Heat had come up with various names for various activities, few of which sounded palatable, but from Lupa's tongue it was... tempting. "I threatened your life."

Lupa's thumb traced around Gale's mouth, unafraid of being bitten, as his lips quirked in a way that made the ache in Gale's shorts worsen dramatically. "That would be when the idea started to appeal."

"I do not comprehend." And Gale knew he was lost then because instead of it feeling like it always had, like the obvious outcome of any problem where a response was necessary and he lacked the data to form a solution, it felt like weakness. The red of Lupa's eyes flared in intensity for a second, and then the Wolf pulled his thumb away and replaced it with his lips.

'_Get away get away get away he will_ eat you' screamed Vayu but then Lupa's tongue slid into his mouth like a peace offering – a very, very curious feeling peace offering – and it quietened, shouted down by an illogical part of him that said maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. When had his eyes closed? Another moment passing, and then the question changed to when had he slid his own tongue into Lupa's mouth, and why did it feel good? Or safe, for that matter?

His eyes opened lazily when Lupa pulled back, breathing heavily as if wounded and saying, "You're a beautiful man, Gale."

Gale knew nothing of the word 'beautiful' save that it was supposed to apply to Nirvana. "I do not comprehend."

"Neither do I," Lupa replied, sounding more frustrated by his own inability to find words appropriate to the situation than he was by Gale's struggle to understand anything that was said. Even so, Gale knew something of what was meant to happen, vague memories of a previous life helping though he had not been with a man that time, and knew what it meant when Lupa looked down to unbuckle the straps on his own pants. Gale found himself caught off guard at the sight of Lupa's dreadlocks framing downcast eyes and marked cheeks; stunning – that was the word, and unlike so much else it actually felt familiar. Being stunned wasn't an alien experience, it just normally happened to be a negative one, and he'd never _enjoyed_ feeling his breath hitch before.

"What do you plan to do?"

"I would not call it a plan," Lupa replied, shucking the rest of the armour protecting his upper legs and abdomen, and Gale tried not to let his eyes stay solely focused on the hardness between Lupa's thighs. Even if they were both red-heads, Heat had never held this fascination for Gale when exposed. "I swear not to hurt you."

Gale believed Lupa, given the Wolves' leader had been true to his words thus far, but was still a little taken aback when Lupa's hands pulled his pants down, wrapping firm arms around his hips and pushing their erections together moments after. Electricity shot through Gale's nerves in a way that made him panic instinctively before remembering Vayu was the one with that elemental weakness, not himself, and it all felt beyond comprehension. He'd known about and understood the other act, about using his hand on himself, why it felt good and the purpose it served, but this was unfamiliar – Lupa's beard scratching his neck and their hardnesses touching was unfamiliar and he couldn't process correctly anymore, losing track of his surroundings worryingly easily. Keeping one hand clamped on Gale's waist, Lupa used the other to stroke both their erections, smiled strangely when Gale copied the actions, and Gale found he was absorbing all variety of useless information. Lupa's skin smelt anything but clean and that was appreciated, sterility having filled much of Gale's life until very recently, but there was nothing in that knowledge he could use. Equally, the slide of hand over hand and erection felt intimate, perhaps even more intimate than if it had been Lupa's hand alone helping them both towards orgasm, and while this was true, again it was something he didn't need to know, but his every thought seemed focused on it.

A familiar jolt as thought processes seemed to die altogether and Lupa didn't complain when Gale came over their hands despite Lupa being anything but ready to orgasm, given he'd not been hard at the start of their conversation. Gale knew perfectly well he could have just kept stroking, that there would have been no complaints at that, but he'd heard elsewhere of something better he could do and while trying not to let any of the come on his fingers drip away he drove the newly lubricated digits up inside himself. Even though he felt none of that, Lupa groaned, moving the hand at Gale's waist up into his hair so they could kiss again, a weak distraction from the pain of scissoring fingers but welcome nonetheless. And Gale knew, knew perfectly well the motion of his fingers would not hurt as much as having Lupa inside him, but he wanted it. God only knew why, and he didn't know God, but he wanted it.

Another moment passed as Lupa pulled Gale's pants off the rest of the way, lifting him against the wall and waiting for Gale's nod before pushing inside in one swift, violent move. Gale had been right; he was stretched now to the point of burning, but Lupa was in him as far as he could go now and Gale _wanted_. Lupa's strength seemed everywhere, supporting Gale where the clamp of leg-fighter thighs wasn't enough to hold him up, keeping him in place and safe against tearing, first motions slow to try and ease the pain. Gale felt shuddery as if his lower half was strained enough to fall apart, but then Lupa was getting a feel for things and brushing against something in Gale that felt like his core, and Gale would have hurt the Wolves' leader for stopping at that point, mind refusing to hold onto any non-physical logic other than to wonder why he kept tangling his hand in with Lupa's dreadlocks between kisses as if letting go would mean falling.

Swift jerking motions at last and Gale realised they'd both gone quiet during the act, Lupa only grunting against his shoulder as he came, bursts of heat inside Gale that would have had him coming too were he not already spent, but there was something in the silence he liked, this idea of shared solitude. Never weak, Lupa didn't slump against Gale afterwards as Gale knew often happened after sex, pulling back instead carefully and taking time to clean them both off by making use of the waterway, the cold water soothing rather than stinging overheated skin. It was an attention to detail Gale could appreciate with his thoughts back in order, though there was still the matter of getting his armour back.

.

Lupa didn't say anything about what they'd just done as they made their way back to where Gale had initially started running, though not out of awkwardness; it simply felt unnecessary to talk about it. It had been good, that was enough. Clasps redone and armour arranged in its usual position, Gale finally opted to break the silence with a question that the logical side of him had tried to frame earlier, failing when his body took control of the situation and rendered logic difficult to sustain. "Why did you not attack? I was alone and my armour discarded. Why did you not take the advantage when it was presented?"

"I swore to help your Tribe."

Gale nodded, finding the answer acceptable despite a continuing sensation in the back of his head, some illogical part of him that wasn't quite happy yet, but he pushed it aside. "I should return to the others."

Lupa seemed a little reluctant to leave, but nodded in return, hand hovering over his stomach to activate his Atma but not letting it take control immediately. "I'll give you two minutes. Make sure to swim so Cerberus can't track your scent."

"Agreed." Gale turned to leave and walked on a little, pausing for a second to touch his finger to his forehead. "Thank you."

Lupa didn't respond, but Gale felt better for saying it regardless, logic seeming compromised by the activity they'd shared. It seemed to connect with why Argilla still acted irrationally over Jinana, why Serph allowed Heat reckless freedom to act of his own accord, even if it didn't make sense.

.

Cielo looked fit to burst with unspoken words when Gale returned, although Argilla silenced the blue-haired Embryon with a glance. Strange to think that Nirvana was so close, although there was definitely a new energy in the group with the realisation that there really was only one Tribe left that they needed to deal with. Even Heat was comparatively civil when Gale recommended he change from learning an electricity-based mantra to finishing that which would give him the ice resist skill, swearing only the once and actually taking the advice when they came across a small terminal. Still, for all their comfortable anxiety, Gale couldn't ignore the feeling that had risen inside him; what if the Temple refused to let Lupa join them? Defection wasn't unusual since the virus had hit and it had never been explicitly declared wrong, but defection of a leader seemed impossible - even then, Lupa still considered himself an ally to the Embryon and not a member. Lupa was proud of his being a Wolf.

It shouldn't have concerned him; as an Embryon himself, his duty continued to be obedience of Serph, and as a strategist, he didn't need to be adding unnecessary components into his plans. For all he pushed it down, though, it seemed it wasn't going away.

Another battle commenced, and Vayu growled with hunger.

.

The End


End file.
